The Rethuglican Ideal of Responsibility
May. 4th, 2004 02:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
womzillaJuan Cole:
I don't know who first brought this idea to my attention, but it was almost certainly either Josh Marshall or Atrios: Over the last 42 months, the US government has made a very large number of errors, ranging from "not detecting the September 11th attacks" to "completely botching the Iraq occupation". No one has ever lost his or her job over these errors. Period.
What the hell is up with that?
It is remarkable how the US press allows themselves to be manipulated by the government. When the Abu Ghuraib story broke, Bush just issued a statement that he was disgusted, taking no responsibility. The headlines the next day? "Bush Disgusted by Photos." The proper headline would have been "Permanent Damage to US Image in Muslim World; Bush Fires No One."
I don't know who first brought this idea to my attention, but it was almost certainly either Josh Marshall or Atrios: Over the last 42 months, the US government has made a very large number of errors, ranging from "not detecting the September 11th attacks" to "completely botching the Iraq occupation". No one has ever lost his or her job over these errors. Period.
What the hell is up with that?
no subject
Date: 2004-05-04 05:56 am (UTC)I think we're seeing asymmetrical responsibility.
The folks in charge talk as though punishment is a tremendously effective method of getting what you want, but (perhaps partly because they believe in unrestrained punishment), they are never subject to punishment themselves.